Hey everybody, I've just discovered Sins and am quite interested in what I'm hearing about it! However, I'd like to know a little bit more about how the game actually plays. I know it involves building a giant galactic empire and crushing your enemies (like any good strategy game) but there are some specific genre trends that I'm hoping Sins can kick.

Specifically, how detailed is the base building and the mechanism for managing it? Are the bases going to be built like they are in RTS games (Starcraft, Total Anihilation, etc), or will they be managed more like a turn based empire game (Civilization, GalCiv, etc.)? One thing that I find is that the base-building in typical RTS games is usually more robust, but comes at the price of having to be babysat. To build a base you have to select a "builder" unit, give it an order, and then place the buildings one by one. In games like Total Annihilation (or the upcoming Supreme Commander) this quickly turns into an exercise in frustration, because you're juggling what "builder" units are working on what projects. Oftentimes, your builder units just sit idle because you're too busy to give them new orders!

I far prefer the base building system found in turn-based games. You have a screen dedicated to that base and simple commands for how to allocate the resources of that base at any given time. You don't have to hunt for builder units, and you don't have to constantly give them new orders. You just tell your base what you want, and the virtual citizens make it happen. For fine economic control you can set toggle bars for how much of your budget is going to production, how much to research, and how much to economic expansion.

Where does Sins fall in this regard? Is the gameplay a fast click-fest ala Supreme Commander? Is it a real-time GalCiv2 with awesome tactical battles? Or is this something completely different?

Either way, it's looking awesome and I'll probably be signing up for the beta, so keep up the good work!